Why don't politicians study the history of Afghanistan?
Written on June 5, 2009 by admin
Alexander The Great, The Romans, The Mongols, The POMs and the Russians were all defeated in Afghanistan. What makes The Yanks, Aussies and NATO think that they are different?
Ask the Chinese to build another Great Wall around the place and leave them be.
Your suggestion is right on. But our criminals in office need a war. This is the one they got.
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Posted in history afghanistan
March 28th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Your suggestion is right on. But our criminals in office need a war. This is the one they got.
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March 28th, 2009 at 5:50 am
We are not at war with the Afghanistan people. The war is with the Taliban and terrorist in general. Big difference.
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March 28th, 2009 at 5:50 am
or french indo china why would the usa think it would succeed when france failed
or iraqi british history
want to bet the Bush has not read the books by D H Lawrence
nope america is an ignorant country , inward looking and lives only in the present
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March 28th, 2009 at 5:51 am
They should. It has always been my contention that Bush should have called in a few historians rather than his intelligence community before sending troops into Afghanistan and Iraq. Had he listened to them we would not have troops in either place today.
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March 28th, 2009 at 5:54 am
Because it goes against their purpose of WORLD domination.
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March 28th, 2009 at 5:58 am
The Great Wall failed to keep the barbarians out. Perhaps your knowledge of history needs a little refresher…
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March 28th, 2009 at 6:21 am
I'm sure there are many politicians that have definitely studied the history of Afghanistan and Central Asia as a whole. The concept of the nation of "Afghanistan" was created by the British and is still widely resisted in the Pashtun tribal belt, where the Taliban was born and bred.
Why don't the American people study up on the Afghan history their selves and try to understand for their selves why we are there? It might make a lot more sense once the facts are aired…
There are vast differences between the wars fought by the armies you listed above. Alexander the Great did not wish to conquer Afghanistan. Afghanistan only stood between him and Cathay, which he believed to be the end of the world. The Romans never ventured as far as Afghanistan. The Persians beat them back. The Mongols did have a lot of success in that part of the world, as evidenced today by the Oriental complexions of many Afghans, such as the Hezaris. The Russians got stomped in Afghanistan because they were under-funded, under-supplied, subverted by US/Pakistan/Arab/Iranian influence, and in the midst of the financial melt-down that precluded the fall of the USSR. The British were defeated because of a serious tactical blunder. They attempted to fight their way up a valley with the enemy holding the high ground on mountains surrounding the valley. This valley is the modern-day Khyber Pass. They were also at the very end of their supply line (which originated in India) and did not have the logistical support to continue. So far, the US has been the most successful fighting force to ever take on this part of the world. Imagine if another country invaded America and we all ran for the hills and raised an Army in the Rocky Mountains? I imagine the invading Army would choose to just go around us and leave us be, much as Alexander the Great chose to do. Now consider that the mountains in Afghanistan are up to 8,000 feet higher than the highest peak in Colorado. Sobering, isn't it? They call that mountain range the Hindu Kush. It's a leg of the Himalayan Mountains, a few hundred miles away from Mount Everest. There are people in those mountains who are so out of contact with the rest of the world that they thought American soldiers who invaded in 2001-2002 were Russian soldiers who were still fighting.
The primary difference between the US war and every other force that has ever set foot on Afghan soil is that the US is not there to conquer. It is there only to rebuild, stabilize, and leave ASAP. But it's a careful balance between getting out quickly and getting out too quickly. Leave too quickly, and the Taliban will come right back. Remember that VE day was 65 years ago. We still have over 100 US installations in Germany. It took 30-40 years to effectively rebuild that country. The destruction caused in Afghanistan by this war is nowhere near the destruction caused in Germany. However, Germany already had the knowledge and education base to direct their own reconstruction. With a literacy rate of >10% in Afghanistan, there is no knowledge and education base. The task is not only to win a war. It is also to teach the Afghan people how to provide for their selves and how to build their own country. Until they can successfully do that, they will remain susceptible to violent ideologues like the Taliban.
It's a steep hill to climb, but if any country in the world is capable of doing it, that country is America.
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March 28th, 2009 at 6:22 am
We are at war with the Taliban militia, that is mainly made up of itinerant Pakistani and Saudi people rather than native Afghans, and they have stronghold over the rural provinces of Afghanistan. We want to protect the rest of the world from these people rather than destroy Afghanistan and the Afghans. Many Afghans have actually sought and found refuge in Britain, Germany, France and several other European countries (strangely I , and we do our utmost to help these people and their families left behind. If we can rid their homeland of the scourge of extremist (non Muslims IMO because Islam is a religion of peace) terror and drug barons that fund them then perhaps we would not have to send troops there. Sadly the drug cartels and the terror groups are nearly as rich in arms and technology as our governments and are certainly far richer in the number of young people willing to die for them. It does seem at times that if we could our best option would be to build a large strong dome over Afghanistan and leave them to it, but rightly or wrongly our governments feel that this country's native and normal people deserve better than that.
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March 28th, 2009 at 6:38 am
First off, I am offended that you call us Yanks because I am a proud SOUTHERN American. Second of all, I don't support us in Afghanistan or any other part of the world. A lot of Americans don't but the jerks in Washington are dummies and they think they know what they are doing.
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